Here’s my Playbill essay for the Met’s new production of Manon Lescaut:
Following the world premiere of Manon Lescaut on February 1, 1893, thechorus of critical praise included the observation that, with his new opera,“Puccini stands revealed for what he is: one of the strongest, if not the strongest, of the young Italian opera composers.”
continue reading (pdf, see p. 23)
Filed under: essay, Metropolitan Opera, Puccini